In my “previous life”, before moving to Basel from the canton of Ticino, several months ago, I used to be engaged in various activities, among which teaching Italian to foreign people. I was and still am fascinated by different languages and cultures, but had never really considered that my own language and culture could also be different!

I came to Basel to start a new job, but the three-months trial period proved it wasn’t the right place for me. And so now I’m here, and I’m supposed to speak German well to have more chances to get a new job and integrate into the Swiss-German culture.

In the canton of Ticino you don’t have the “problem” to choose among a number of courses, associations or whatever to fit in the local culture. Basel offers much more, which makes you feel more confident that you can get through this process. However, as an Italian teacher for foreigners in canton of Ticino, even if I used to do my job with passion and enthusiasm, I never tried to put myself in my students’ shoes.

What I’m writing about is the change in perspective I’m working on. As an “immigrant” (from another Swiss canton) I’m becoming aware that: